Combination lighter and burner support for gas stoves



Feb. 13, 1940.

s. H. HOBSON 2,189,796

COMBINATION LIGHTER AND BURNER SUPPORT FOR GAS STOVES Filed Sept. 12, 1936 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 1 Feb. 13, 1940. s. H. HOBSON 2,189,796

COMBINATION LIGHTER AND BURNER SUPPORT FOR GAS STOVES Filed Sept. 12, 1936 2 Sheets-Sfieet 2 Patented Feb. 13, 1940 PATENT OFFICE I COMBINATION LIGHTER AND BURNER SUPPORT FOR GAS STOVEB smiley 1!. 1101mm, Rockford, m, anignor to 660.

D. Roper Corporation, Rockford, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application September 12, 1938, Serial No. 100,428

9 Claim.

This invention relates to gas stoves, and is particularly concerned with a combination lighter and burner support for the cooking top.

In my Patent 2,009,582, I first disclosed the rigid mounting of a lighter and the supporting of the burners directly on the ends of the flash tubes thereof whereby to insure proper relationship of the burners with reference to the flash tubes for quick and positive lighting. while at the same time supporting all of the burners in the same plane with reference to the cooking top. My present invention is also concerned with a lighter of that type and has for its principal object the further simplification of the lighter and burner support assembly by the provision of a built in" pilot burner and also its gas supply connection, whereby to reduce the number of parts, obtain greater compactness, and realize a saving in cost, besides minimizing danger of gas leakage.

In accordance with my invention, the manifold is provided with a flat seat on the top thereof at the middle, and the lighter has the upper section of the pilot burner cast integral therewith in the central housing portion thereof which is formed with a flat bottom surface to match said seat and is arranged to be'bolte'd thereon for rigid support of the lighter. When the lighter is so mounted, an annular groove provided in the fiat bottom of the burner section and communicating with a plurality of holes extending radially inwardly from the groove to the inside of the central housing of the lighter at points adjacent the inner ends of the flash tubes, is supplied with gas through a hole drilled in the manifold from the flat seat thereon. Thus, a twopart assembly provides a complete operative structure which is much more rigid than others provided in the past and not so apt to develop play between parts and allow the burners to sag and get off level. Besides, it eliminates the necessity for a separate pilot burner and the usual separate gas supply tube and regulating valve, and is of advantage because it has only one joint to be kept gas-tight, as against a plurality in other constructions, and it will be obvious that this one joint is of a type which it is simple to keep tight enough to prevent leakage.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany ing drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section of the cooking top of a gas stove, showing the combination lighter and burner support of my invention, only one of the cooking top burners being illustrated and the grates being removed for obvious reasons;

Figs. 2 and 3 are cross-sections on the correspondingly numbered lines of Fig.1, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are, respectively, a bottom view of the lighter and a top view of a manifold taken on the lines 4-4 and 8-4 of Fig. 2.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the reference numeral designates the frame of the cooking top, and 'I the front panel through which the stems 8 of the cooks 9 project for operation by suitable knobs iii to control the cooking top burners, one of which is shown at II. The dotted circles i2 represent the openings in the cooking top at the burner locations in which suitable grates are provided over the burners. I3 is a cast manifold extending forwardly substantially horizontally in the burner box under the cooking top and supported at its rear end from the cooking top frame by the bracket extension I and bolts i5. IS indicates the end of a pipe threaded into the rear end of the manifold iii to supply gas thereto from the mains. The front end of the manifold I3 is flanged, as at l1, and secured by bolts l8 to the hollow boss I9 projecting from the back of a transverse front manifold 20, whereby to deliver gas from the manifold l3 to the cocks 9 carried on the front manifold 20. The connection indicated at 2i is for an oven cock (notshown) which is suitably operated by a dial from in front of the panel I to open the cock and at the same time set an oven heat regulator communicating therewith for a desired oven temperature. The front manifold is bolted at its opposite ends, as at 22, to parts 23 of the stove frame.

The manifold l3, in accordance with my invention, constitutes a support for the lighter, indicated generally by the reference numeral 24, which is also the burner support, allfour cooking top burners being supported on the ends of the flash tubes 25 as the burner II is illustrated. In each case, the burner has a downwardly projecting frusto-conical prong 26 arranged to enter a tapered hole 21 in an extension 28 on the outer end of the flash tube to locate the burner, while an upwardly projecting prong 29 on top of the flash tube on one side of the hole 21 and another upwardly projecting prong 30 on the outer end of the extension 28 on the opposite side of the hole 21 engage flat surfaces on the bottom of the burner head to support it accurately in a horizontal plane. Another point of support for each burner is afforded where its mixer 31 makes a telescoping connection with the nipple 32 on the associated gas cock 3. It is therefore clear that each burner is demountably supported on the end of an associated flash tube 23 and accurately located with reference to the outer end thereof. Accurate location of each burner is important because, for one thing, the lighting of the burner depends upon the delivery of gas from a jet on the burner into the outer end of the flash tube, which gas is lighted in the central burner housing 33, causing a flashback to occur through the flash tube to the burner to ignite the latter. In the present case, the burner I I is a double burner similar to what is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 740,040, and incorporates an auxiliary simmer burner 34 at the center thereof,

serving as the lighter for the main burner 33, and a lateral jet at 36 on the side of the simmer burner 34 discharges into the adJacent end of the flash tube 23. Of course, my invention is not limited to use with this or any other specific type of burner; the burners might be of the type disclosed in my Patent 2,009,582,.or any other type suitable for the purpose.

Now, referring particularly to Figs. 2 to 5, it will be observed that the manifold I3 has 9. laterally offset middle portion 31 extending beneath and to one side of the pilot burner housing 33 of the lighter 24.. This is to permit free flow of secondary air up into the housing 33 through the hole 38 in the horizontal web 39 cast integral with the manifold on the top thereof. This web has the top thereof machined flat to provide a seat 40 on which the flat machined bottom surface 4i of the housing 33 is arranged to engage to form a gas-tight Joint when the lighter is bolted in place on the manifold, as indicated at 42 in Fig. 1. There are holes 43 in the web 39 arranged to register with holes 44 in webs 45 provided between the inner ends of the flash tubes 23 on the lighter for reception of the bolts 42. The housing 33 has a circular boss 48 on the inside thereof forming the body of the ring-shaped pilot burner 41 the bore of which is arranged to register with the hole 38 in the web 39. The bores 48 in the flash tubes 25 intersect the bore of burner 41, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the boss 43 being cored out on the top thereof, as at 49, to form connecting radial grooves or channels between the bore of burner 41 and the inner ends of the bores 43. At the inner end of each of these channels is a pilot burner port 50 formed by a hole drilled radially from the inside of the pilot burner with downward inclination into communication with an annular groove 3| formed in the bottom of the boss 46. The pilot burner 41 is supplied with gas from the manifold l3 through a hole 32 communicating with the groove II on the seat 40. The hole 52 is drilled in the wall of the manifold l3 with downward inclination from the seat 40 into communication with a transverse hole 53 which in turn communicates with the bore 54 of the manifold. A metering valve plug 33 is threaded in the hole 33 and has an adjusting screw 56 threaded therein, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to regulate the flow of gas to the pilot burner. The jets at the ports 50 can therefore be cut down to a size consistent with safety and economy.

In operation, the screw 38 will be backed up just enough to provide the desired size of jets at 30 adjacent the inner ends of the four flash tubes 23. When one of the burners is turned on, the gas discharged from that burner through area-no the bore 43 of the flash tube associated therewith is ignited at the pilot burner 41 and a flashback occurs immediately as the flame is propagated through the bore 43 back to the burner, thereby lighting the latter. The cut-away, indicated at I! in Fig. 1 as provided in the bottom wall of each flash tube at the outer end, is to avoid fouling of the jet at 33 adjacent the end of the tube by allowing free access of secondary air to the jet. This cut-away also relieves the pressure at the outer end of the flash tube when the flash-back occurs so that there is better assurance of the burner being lighted; a too violent flash-back is apt to extinguish the flame and thus make lighting uncertain.

It is apparent from the foregoing description that I have provided a combination lighter and burner support of simplified and generally improved design in which there is such structural rigidity that the burners are never apt to sag or get 01! level in any way. The building in of the pilot burner 41 and its gas supply connection 52 and regulating valve 53-48 in the two-part assembly results in greater compactness and obviously fewer parts and also a minimum number of joints to keep gas-tight, and makes for ease in assembling and ease in servicing, all of which taken together means an appreciable saving in cost. As previously stated there is really only one Joint, at 404l, and this is of a type which it is easy to keep gas-tight, especially in view of the small gas flow to the pilot burner.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a gas stove, comprising a cooking top and burners therefor, a manifold for supplying gas to said burners, a device for lighting said burners comprising a central pilot light housing and flash tubes extending therefrom to said burners to conduct gas therefrom to the pilot light housing 'for ignition, a pilot burner in said housing, the same comprising a body having an annular groove provided in the bottom thereof constituting a gas inlet opening, said burner including a plurality of circumferentially spaced ports provided by holes in said body intersecting said groove, said manifold extending directly below said lighter device beneath a portion of said housing and having a gas outlet opening on the top thereof arranged to register at one point directly with said annular groove in said pilot burner to supply gas to the latter, means for securing said lighter and manifold in such assembled relation, and means for supporting said manifold in a predetermined relation to the cooking top.

2. Ina lighting device for the cooking top burners of a gas stove, the combination of a pilot light housing, flash tubes extending therefrom for conducting gas from said burners to the housing for ignition, a pilot burner in said housing comprising a comprising a ported body portion rigid with the housing, the body portion 1 having a flat bottom surface and a single groove formed in said bottom communicating with the burner ports, a gas supply manifold having a complementary flat top surface for abutment with the bottom surface of the pilot burner and 'having a gas outlet opening. therein adapted to register with the aforesaid groove, and means for securing said pilotburner and housing to said manifold with said groove and opening communicating with one another for operation of the pilot burner and with the flat surfaces in gas tight abutment.

3. In a lighting device for the cooking top burners of a gas stove, the combination of a pilot light housing, flash tubes extending therefrom for conducting gas from said burners to the housing for ignition, a pilot burner in said housing rigid therewith and having a gas inlet opening in the bottom hereof, said pilot burner being ring-shaped, a gas supply manifold arranged to support said lighter and supply gas to the pilot burner, the same having a substantially horizontal wall extending therefrom beneath said housing and having a secondary air opening provided therein registering with the pilot burner for supply of secondary air thereto from beneath said wall, means for securing said lighter in position on said wall, and a gas outlet opening provided in said manifold and communicating with said gas inlet opening.

4. In a lighting device for the cooking top burners of'a gas stove, the combination of a pilot light housing, flash tubes radiating therefrom at a level intermediate the top and bottom of the housing for conducting gas from said burners to the housing for ignition, a pilot burner in said housing comprising a ported body portion cast integral with the lower portion of said housing having flame ports in circumferentially spaced relation in a plane slightly below the bottoms of the tubes and with a least one port in radial alignment with the inner end of each flash tube, the body portion having a flat bottom surface and a circular groove formed therein communicating with all of said ports, a support having a complementary flat top surface for abutment with the bottom surface of the pilot burner and having a gas outlet opening therein for registration with said groove, and means for securing said pilot burner and housing to the support with the flat surfaces in gas tight abutment and with the gas outlet opening in communication with the groove.

5. As an article of manufacture, a one-piece, cast, combination spider and pilot light burner for a lighter for the cooking top burners of a gas range, comprising a central housing, flash tubes extending horizontally therefrom to conduct gas inwardly from burners to the housing for ignition, the tubes communicating with the housing at a level intermediate the top and bottom of the housing, and a pilot burner in said housing comprising a ported body portion integral with the lower portion of said housing having flame ports in circumferentially spaced relation in a plane adjacent the bottoms of the tubes and with at least one port in radial alignment with the inner end of each flash tube, the body portion having a flat bottom surface with a circular groove formed therein communicating with all of said ports, .said article being adapted to be mounted on a support so that the groove forms with the support a gas conducting channel adapted to be supplied with gas from a source of gas supply.

6. An articleas set forth in claim 5, wherein the pilot burner body portion is formed on the top between the inner ends of the flash tubes soas to provide a separate open top channel leading radially outwardly from each port to its associated flash tube.

. 7. An article as set forth in claim 5, wherein the pilot burner body portion is formed on the top between the inner ends of the flash tubes so as to provide a separate open top channel leading radially outwardly from each port to its associated flash tube, the top of said body portion being in a horizontal plane at an elevation intermediate the top and bottom of the aforesaid inner ends of the flash tubes.

8. In a lighting device for the cooking top burners of a gas stove; the combination of a pilot light housing, flash tubes extending therefrom for conducting gas from said burners to the housing for ignition, a pilot burner in said housing rigid therewith and having a gas inlet opening in the bottom thereof, the bottom of said pilot burner being flat, a support having a flat top surface for abutment with said flat bottom surface and having a gas discharge opening provided herein extending to said top surface and arranged to communicate with the gas inlet opening in said pilot burner, and means for detachably securing said pilot light housing and burner on said support with the openings in communication and with the flat surfaces in gas tight abutment.

9. In a lighting device for the cooking top burners of a gas stove, the combination of a pilot light housing, flash tubes extending therefrom for conducting gas from said burners to the housing for ignition, a pilot burner in said housing rigid therewith and having a series of circumferentially spaced downwardly directed ports provided therein, the bottom of said pilot burner being flat, a support having a flat top surface for abutment with said flat bottom surface and having an upwardly directed gas discharge opening provided therein, one of said abutting surfaces having a continuous groove provided therein which when the surfaces are in abutment forms a gas conducting channel from said gas discharge opening to all of said ports, and means for detachably securing said pilot light housing and burner on said support with the flat surfaces in gas tight abutment and establishing the communication stated between said ports and gas discharge opening through said groove.

STANLEY H. HOBSON.

u -CERTIFICATE OF GORRECTION. Patent No. A i v 'STANLEY n. noesonbf t It is hereby certified that error appeepsin the printed s ecification of the above numbered patentrequiring corr'ectiori as fpilows: Page 2-, sec-' 0nd column, line 66, claim 2, strike out comprising a." second occurrenc epage 5, first column, lfne 1.1,01311115, for the word "hereof" read thereof; and second colmin, line. 52, claim-8, for "herein? read therein; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correct'ien therein that the same may enfonfi to the reeord. of the ease in the Patent Office;

Signed ahd Sea1ed this 19th day of March, A. n. 19ho.

Henry Van Arsda1'e (Seal) Acting Commiseioner of Patents 

